


More than Words

by noxelementalist



Category: Beastmaster
Genre: Community: smallfandombang, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Talking, Talking Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 21:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14245743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxelementalist/pseuds/noxelementalist
Summary: "Please tell me that all that blushing you two are doing means one of you is going to mate soon, even if it’s with each other," Ruh called out, the roar echoing across the space. "This is getting embarrassing!"





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Small Fandom Big Bang, which also now has the dubious honor of being my first big bang challenge ever! 
> 
> Readers should know that this story takes place across all of Season 1, mostly in between the episodes. Also, I’ve used carrot brackets as quotation marks for the animal talk: this is partly because it’s entirely telepathic speech, making quote marks seem weird, but mostly because I had to use italics for other things and constant bolding/underlining seemed irritating. Hopefully the brackets aren’t worse!
> 
> Finally, please check out the glorious, glorious art made by Tarlan, which can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14241048). It's amazing, and I'm immensely grateful that it was made.

 

**Prologue**

It was a peaceful night in the forest known as the Sanctuary. Under the starry moonlight bats and insects flew through the air on the unseen breezes, the only nocturnal life still stirring. Below them the larger mammals slumbered in their dens and shelters in the trees and bushes, and even in the pool at the Sanctuary’s center— which normally was the site of at least a few animals drinking their fill— there was nothing passing but the stream that fed it, the water babbling cleanly. It was a stilly night, the kind of night that would have been unremarkable in the Mydlands for practically anyone.

Anyone, that is except, for a proud, chocolate-pinioned eagle and a pair of russet ferrets, the former of whom had been keeping watch for quite some time.

<I think they’re finally settling down for the night> Sharak whispered from his spot high in the trees where the raptor had established his own nest. <At least, their breathing has evened out.>

<It’s about time!> said Kodo, the ferret sticking her head carefully out of the saddlebag she normally rode in to look around the Sanctuary at night. <I’ve been waiting to get out for hours now. Do you know how small it is in there?!>

<It’s not the pup’s fault he was kept up> said Kodo’s brother Podo, who followed her as they wandered out. <Dar had a guest over for the first time in...really _ever_. You’d keep talking for hours if we ran into another ferret too. >

<Yeah, because they’re not my brother.>

<Hey!>

<I’m still not sure that one’s merely a guest> Sharak replied, focusing on the scene below him. There by the dying firelight lay the man the Demon-Lady Curupira had proclaimed as the Beastmaster, he whom Sharak knew as Dar. The shadows cast by the flickering light turned the wavy golden plumes of Dar’s head feathers into an almost hawkish brown and tanned his bare chest, though Sharak never understood why Dar kept removing what little fur he grew until his skin was again as smooth and unblemished as a chick’s. Beside him lay a thinner human, possibly a younger fledgling, with raven-dark hair dressed in strangely colored plumage.

It was of this one that he and the ferrets were speaking of.

<I too have yet to see any other human stay so long with our fledging, nor spend so much time speaking with him> added Sharak. <Except perhaps for Kyra, and it has been long since she was here.>

<I think it’s cute> Kodo said. <It’s about time he got a friend of his own species, and from the sounds of it he’s even going to help him find his mate.>

<Oh?> Sharak said, raising his head, knowing that sometimes the ferrets would eavesdrop on Dar from his saddlebag as he carried them.

<Oh yes> Kodo confirmed. <He said he had spoken to the Kyra-mate, knew which den she had been taken, and would help Dar find her in the morning. It’s all very exciting isn’t it?>

Sharak preened, taking great joy at the thought of their fledgling and his mate finally being reunited. <Well, then I suppose it is wise of him to keep this one around, even if they do stay up way too late chittering.>

<I mean, it’s not an unpleasant chittering> Kodo said. <And I’m told that communication is important to human pack relations.>

<Did either of you pick up on how he called himself?> Podo asked.

<He said he was called Tao> Sharak answered, shifting in his nest.

<Tao? What does that even mean?> Kodo replied. <I don’t think it’s a sound they usually make. Is it some kind of food?>

Sharak thought, and for a brief moment a flicker of a memory from a time long, long ago brought to him the sound of the high, warm laugh of a human woman asking “how do you define the Tao? Really Sharak, no one can!”

<He said it meant The Way, and that he would show it the fledgling> Sharak replied, shoving the flicker aside as he had so many of them since the day he first found the fledgling Dar on the riverbanks, sandy and grimy and newly proclaimed with his gift of Animalspeak. <I think it’s meant to show he’s a pathfinder, though why humans would need someone to play that part specifically I don’t know. It’s not like they don’t trample out paths willy-nilly.>

<Well that’s a thing nice to be named for though> Kodo said. <At least someone here knows where we’re going. Curupira knows Dar can’t keep to a trail unless it’s feeding time to save his life.>

For a brief moment there was silence as Kodo and Podo explored the Sanctuary, taking the opportunity to discreetly go through their evening routine before slowly making their way back to the saddlebag that Dar carried them around in.

<Sharak?> Podo asked, twittering softly.

<Hmmm?> the eagle replied sleepily. Normally he would be taking the first watch, but no animal dared to attack the Lady Curupira’s Sanctuary at night. That was to risk their guardian’s wrath, and the Backwards Cloven was unforgiving as the predators she ruled over. <Yes?>

<I-I was wondering.>

<...I’m listening.>

<What did Ruh think of Tao?> the ferret asked. <Did he approve of him? It’s just, Ruh saw more of them during the day, and I think he’d have a better read on them.>

<He said that he was a strange cub> Sharak answered, remembering the conversation he had held in passing with the striped tiger earlier that afternoon while flying above Dar on the Beastmaster’s return to the Sanctuary, the dark-haired fledgling named in Tao following clumsily but determinedly behind them. <When faced with his own kind attacking him with those strange shiny-rock spears of theirs Tao neither advanced nor circled nor even hid, but chittered slowly and lowly at them for many beats, as if thinking he could croon them into setting him free.>

<Really?>

<It was only when this failed that he made one attempt to escape the trap, which is when our Dar came upon them> Sharak said. <According to Ruh, Tao’s behavior was a sign that the cub saw no point in play fighting, choosing to face his own kind’s scorn instead.>

<What strange instincts.>

Sharak nodded, a gesture he knew the ferret could see in the darkness. <Ruh also said he was probably our Dar’s best chance at finding a mate because he showed no fear or fight at the sight of him, which he likes as a quality in a pack-mate. I think then that, on the whole, he was...approving.>

<If that’s what Ruh said> Podo replied, <then, I suppose our Dar won’t be mate-less and human pack-less for long.>

<Better not> Sharak grumbled, and again there came a flicker of memory, this time of a pair of arms entwined around him speaking of children and family, and for a brief moment Sharak wanted to remember that life, a life so very long lost to him now.

But it was lost, and so with a sigh Sharak pushed the flicker aside. <I want grand fledglings sometime this lifetime thanks.>

<Don’t we all?> Podo laughed. <Goodnight Sharak.>

<Good night> the eagle replied as the ferret crawled back into the saddle bag, the pair of animals soon settling down into a dreamless sleep.

And once again there was only the stilly night air of the Sanctuary.


	2. Chapter 1

Dar wasn’t sure what to make of Tao.

The Beastmaster thought about this as he ran alongside Ruh through the woods around the Sanctuary, a routine begun back when Dar had just started learning how to speak to animals and it had become quickly obvious that he needed training to keep up with them physically. It was a way of checking the perimeter of the Sanctuary, though Dar suspected that it was also Ruh’s subtle way of attempting to look him over, making sure that the Beastmaster had slept fine and felt strong.

The tiger glancing at him every so often would’ve been far more irritating to Dar if it had been any other but Ruh, who had known him back when Dar hadn’t been the last of the Sula tribe, let alone in charge of all the animals under the Demon Curupira’s care.

Tao had been staying with them seven suns now ( _a week_ , Dar could hear Tao telling him in his mind. _A sun is a day, and seven days are called a week._ ) Everyday had brought new ideas. First had been the garden that destroyed all the wildflowers, which Dar had disliked enough to _personally_ kick to shreds, even though Kodo and Podo had been frolicking along inside it gleefully—

 

[<Look, pots!> Podo had shouted.

<And tunnels with tiny trees!> Kodo had joined in as he scampered, running over the stakes. <Look at me, I’m Ruh, Tiger of Doom- Rawr!>

<Oh Curupira, make them stop.> Ruh had said flatly.]

 

— almost followed by the well, which Dar was thankful he’d been able to talk Tao out of given the presence of the _actual_ stream and pond of _flowing water_ in the middle of the Sanctuary. Not to mention the strange contraptions and mixtures of leather and cord and wood that so often made up the things Tao called his “inventions,” or the shiny and strange powdered rocks Dar knew was magic no matter how much Tao called it “science.”

Tao was scrawny and weak. Tao had to wear a woven mat of fur in unnatural human colors to stay warm, and could barely use a tree branch in a fight. Dar swore he had never spent so much time picking someone up than he had these days with Tao as the Eiron fell out of trees or tripped over the small rivets in the Sanctuary ground itself, scampering around with a boundless curiousness that reminded Dar of the time Kodo and Podo had munched on some weeds by a riverbank and wound up skittering and giggling all over the Sanctuary for three days.

“I still think he’s worse than mockingbirds at darkness, with more opinions than the fishes of the sea and a mouth that moves man faster than a cricket’s legs,” Dar muttered to himself as he moved to jump over a log on the path, shifting slightly to make his way around a young sapling a few feet in front of it. “Seriously, what does ‘a circle has no beginning’ even _mean_? Doesn’t it start where you draw it? And how does _he_ know the world isn’t flat?”

<Cubs should be far quieter than that when they run, unless you want the prey to escape> Ruh huffed at Dar.

“Yeah, well, tell that to Tao.”

<I would if I could, but since he is neither here nor has the gift of Animalspeak, I’m telling you> the tiger chuffed.

Dar grumbled, but kept quiet. Despite all of Tao’s faults, it had taken Dar six rounds to figure out how to track the pebble under the three green shells Tao had used to hide and move the thing around on that table, and Dar had trained with an _eagle_. Tao could explain away the tricks the Sorceress had played for King Zad, even counter them with his own. He was knowledgeable enough that though it had been so long since he saw his own tribe, Tao still could wear that strange jade ring with the star indents on his finger without fear or shame. And Tao could even talk with women gracefully- at least, between Haisa, Melina, and those few precious moments he had managed to have with Dar’s own Kyra before…well, through it all, Tao had remained standing as calm and as easy as milk, and Dar had noticed the several kisses on the check they had given him without Tao falling over like a love-struck pup the way Dar had the first time Kyra had kissed him.

If there’s one thing Dar’s time as Beastmaster had shown him so far, he reflected as the Sanctuary came into sight, it was that tracks spoke of and led to the animals that left them. And all of Tao’s tracks led Dar to think that if Tao didn’t have magic, he was possibly the strangest human Dar had ever chanced across.

 

 

<How was the run, oh tiger?> Podo asked.

<The cub was talking to himself again> Ruh said, settling down by the edge of the Sanctuary to watch as Dar stripped off the short skin he dressed in and dove naked into the pool, washing off the dirt and sweat from his run with a brief swim before exiting again, wrapping the same skin around his waist as he walked towards a cave near the back of the Sanctuary where Tao appeared to be lying down and staring at the cave’s ceiling. <This Tao cub has definitely made him noisier, and I don’t know if I like that.>

<But it’s way more interesting!> Kodo said. <Now Podo and I get to see whole new dens and colonies, with lots of shiny things in it, instead of just lots and lots of trees.>

<You would think that’s a good thing> Sharak said from above.

<Hey, Tao does get Dar to go fun places, which does mean we go fun places,> Podo replied, gesturing towards his sister. <And he’s got that nice shiny ring, and the spinning skin thing.>

<The _what? >_ Ruh asked.

Kodo nodded. <He told us about them> Kodo replied to the tiger as he scampered closer. <Tao said the ring is the badge of his pack, and that only the honored wear it.>

<Oh good, he’s honorable> Sharak chirped to Ruh, who merely snorted at the idea that their Dar would ever spend time around someone dishonorable.

<But the spinning skin is more interesting!> Podo said excitedly. <He could point at a mark on it and tell us about the Big Mountain place, and the Beach, and the Lower scary place. All without lifting a paw to go there! He called it a map, and said he’d been making it himself.>

<Magic then> Ruh said. <Dar is right about that.>

<I don’t think so> Sharak said, twitching as he pecked at an errant feather. <I think the Tao person has his own marks is all.>

<Really? And how would you know?>

<I have flown high and seen much for a very, _very_ long time, remember? > Sharak replied. <I know what magic looks like. All Tao does is what all the humans who wish to remember their paths do. And what kind of a pathfinder would he be if he forgot the paths he cut?>

<But he’s clearly not much of one, if he couldn’t help Dar keep the Kyra mate that long and keeps getting distracted by possible mates of his own.>

<The Kyra mate had been taken by magic far stronger than Tao and you know it. She also approved of Tao> Sharak pointed out. <And I notice that Tao isn’t so distracted that he abandons what Dar tells him to do when they travel, and they rarely get lost. Clearly, he has some skill.>

<Not getting lost doesn’t make you a pathfinder> Ruh grumbled. <It makes you barely competent to walk alone in the forest.>

<Whether he is or not doesn’t matter>, Kodo interrupted. <What matters is that Podo and I have gotten to see way more interesting places, with lots of shiny new things and fun food to eat, since Tao came. I mean, Tao even gets Dar to speak with other humans, which has to be good for him. And so what if possible mates keep eyeing Tao? He didn’t take any of them, so it doesn’t really matter.>

<Right> Podo agreed. <The only I don’t like about Tao is how much we keep having to save him> Podo said. <I mean, how do you get the Beastmaster stuck in those many pits?>

<Yes, you’d think they could travel more safely without an animal escort, wouldn’t you?> Ruh chuckled.

Podo and Kodo looked at each other thoughtfully for a moment before saying together, <…nah.>

<We like caring for Dar> Kodo said. <He cares for us, and we don’t get to return the favor that much.>

<We just don’t like to have to spend so much time doing it, when we could be exploring> Podo clarified.

 

 

“What are the rats over there saying?” Tao asked Dar, noticing as his friend looked across the Sanctuary pool to where the ferrets named Kodo and Podo sat speaking with Ruh the tiger.

“Just how much they enjoy walking with us,” Dar replied, though the way his face stayed carefully neutral made Tao suspect that wasn’t all of it.

Tao chuckled. “Ah the joy of traveling of other humans,” he said. “It’s definitely nice.”

“You like it?” Dar asked, glancing at Tao.

“Oh yes,” Tao said. “I mean, I’ve always liked traveling, but it’s been especially good with you around. Much nicer to have someone to share everything with instead of just talking to myself you know.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Dar said simply, looking back to watch the animals for a moment.

Beside him, Tao did his best not to sigh. Dar was…

Well, nothing Tao’d ever been able to imagine. Strong, gentle: the kind of man who was genuinely awed at the idea that a lever could lift things faster than pulling, or who’d run across an entire savannah to get a single red flower to cure snake poison. The kind that was _painfully_ bad at lying. Dar had the ability to speak to millions of species that Tao would have happily spent lifetimes trying to find and interview, and chose to almost never use that gift unless he absolutely had to, spending his life actively choosing hardship over the easy path. Dar was settled in who he was and what he could do, a grounded nature that was a damn attractive sight for a curious person like Tao who could pretty much never even get his own thoughts to settle down for too long.

 And that didn’t even include how Dar’s firm muscles remained on near constant-display, Tao admitted to himself, trying to resist the urge to watch the droplets of Sanctuary water from Dar’s swim earlier glisten down and around the dips of the Beastmaster’s thick arms and waist and back as Dar laid down on the cave floor. Tao must’ve traveled half the known world at least, and in all that time, he’d found no one who came even close to making him flush with want than Dar did when he grinned at him over the fire, spreading out on the ground just like this, leaving his shirtless abs and firm thighs carelessly on display.

_But he’s also the Beastmaster,_ Tao reminded himself. Between Ruh the tiger, whom Tao was sure had no issue in eating him if he ever mistreated Dar, and Dar’s apparent inability to recognize anyone but Kyra as worthy of being his mate, Tao wasn’t even sure if he’d ever be able to even tell Dar how striking he was in Tao’s eyes. It didn’t make sense to dwell on it too much. Dar was simply off limits and Tao accepted that.

Mostly.

It was just…Tao wasn’t sure exactly how much of a barrier that was. Yes, Dar was literally raised by animals alone in the woods, so he probably hadn’t- couldn’t even _begin_ to imagine what Tao knew about who could possibly be a man’s mate because Dar probably hadn’t encountered enough men long enough to consider wanting that. And maybe Dar really did strongly desire only Kyra: Tao had heard of those who never felt attraction but only fell in love with specific people once or twice in their lives, and Dar could be like them. But it was just hard to imagine that a man who looked like Dar had never even _considered_ the option of choosing someone else as a mate, at least temporarily, or that the animals who helped him would’ve stopped him from seeking a new mate if he had.

Tao suspected Kyra might’ve known the answer. At least, she had seemed oddly comforted by him being around Dar in her absence enough to agree with Dar that Tao should accompany them to where their new home in the Mydland Mountains would’ve been had they managed to leave before the Sorceress had spelled her away, which suggested that she knew something about who or what drew Dar that she felt comfortable leaving him with Tao.

But Tao couldn’t be sure, and he wasn’t going to risk his friendship with Dar.

“Why are you staring at the cave wall?” Dar asked suddenly, turning his head slightly towards Tao.

Tao chuckled, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. “It has to do with a story about a bunch of men in a cave…”


	3. Chapter 2

Dar sat by the fire, watching as Tao tried (again) to spin the staff in his hands, fingers flying but with a grip loose enough that it soon went flying, lodging itself in a nearby tree.

“I meant to do that!” Tao said as he turned to grab it.

“Of course you did,” Dar said after him, before leaning down to Kodo and Podo. “Is it just me,” he muttered, “or do you think he might actually be getting worse?”

<No, not worse, but …maybe giant stick-fighting isn’t for him?> Kodo said thoughtfully.

<Most human people can handle a giant stick you know> Podo replied.

<It _is_ almost as tall as he is, it could be rough. Besides, if there’s one thing our two full moon cycles with him has shown, it’s that our Tao is precious and unique among all humans. >

<Well _yeah_ , he’s part of _our_ pack after all. >

“I’ll see if I can get him to use a smaller one,” Dar said, watching as Tao tried to find a good angle to smack the stick from the tree, or failing that, to climb up and get it. They had already been working on staff fighting for weeks now, and Dar wasn’t sure what to make of Tao’s apparent inability to learn to spin it the way or as easily as Dar had with much less effort.

 “I did ask if he really wanted to do this you know,” Dar told the ferrets. “Since he doesn’t _really_ believe in fighting much.”

<Oh, a human with a flight instinct. Will wonders never cease?> Dar heard Sharak call from above as the eagle settled down onto a tree near the one Tao was glaring at.

“He said he wants to do it because physical discipline is good and he could use the exercise,” Dar continued to say, knowing that the eagle could hear him just as easily from where he perched than if Dar had shouted at him.

<Okay, that the fledging definitely does need.> Sharak said. <Those human wings of his aren’t going to get stronger by themselves you know.>

Dar chuckled. “I guess it takes longer to learn from a human than from you all.”

<Personally, I think he’s doing it on purpose, so you keep touching him> Podo muttered. <Like some kind of mating thing.>

<Podo!> Kodo replied.

<What?> Podo said, glancing back and forth between the other ferret and Dar as the pair stared at him.

<Failing to spin sticks isn’t how humans mate!>

<I may not know how humans mate, but I do know that even the rams from the mountains spend less time hitting on each other than these two do.> Podo grumbled. <And I’ve noticed Tao is only this clumsy when he’s around Dar, which I _know_ is a human mating thing. >

“But…rams bash their skulls against each other,” Dar whispered confusingly as Tao came back into sight, the tree behind him swaying from what Dar imagined was the leftover motion of Tao lunging away from it when he had grabbed the staff.

<Which is different from you slapping him on his butt how exactly?>

“What are they saying?” Tao asked Dar.

<Tell him> Podo said. <I dare you.>

“They’re…questioning my motives in teaching you,” Dar said. “Seems like they think you need a smaller stick.”

Tao huffed. “Listen you little rats,” he said, gesturing with his free hand at the ferrets. “Just because you had to make a rope ladder to get Dar and me out of being boiled alive by cooking oil last week doesn’t mean I can’t learn how to do this. I can’t rely on Dar and you to get me out of trouble all the time you know. I’m going to get this perfect, one way or another, even if you all _and_ Curupira won’t train me into it, and then I can take even better care of myself than I already do..”

“You don’t have to be perfect, you know,” Dar corrected him. “You just have to be better than the other guy is all.”

“Yeah, but you’re the other guy.” Tao teased, making Dar chuckle. “Hey, maybe that’s the problem!”

“What is?”

“This style is much too close how _you’d_ use a staff, not me! I bet if I added a few things onto this—”

<Of all the human pack-mates you could find, why did it have to be the chatty one?> Ruh grumbled as he entered the camp, coming to sit next to Dar. <You know how I feel about human chittering.>

“Oh, and now the tiger’s groaning at me,” Tao said.

Dar smiled. “He just doesn’t like the sound of us talking so much,” he said. “If it makes you feel better, he told me to be quiet before he even thought about teaching me a single thing.”

<And look how fast you learned> Ruh said smugly.

“Maybe we should just call it a night,” Dar told Tao watching as he batted the staff around.

Tao sighed. “Alright,” he said, dropping it on the ground. “I guess it’s getting too dark out to wield this around anyhow, though I still think a counterweight could make it better.”

“You want to take the first watch or should I?”

“I don’t see why the eagle can’t take the first watch.”

<The eagle likes his blessed sleep, that’s why> Sharak muttered.

“He’s not much of a night bird,” Dar reminded Tao. “Here, I’ll take the first one this time.”

“Fine by me,” Tao said, yawning. “Wake me up?”

“Of course,” Dar said. “Sleep well.”

Tao hummed a small sound of assent, and it wasn’t long until Dar could hear the soft murmur of Tao’s breaths even out into what Dar knew was the pattern of the other man asleep.

<You guys can sleep too, if you like> Dar said to the other animals, reaching out with his mind instead of speaking aloud as he tried to do when Tao was awake, out of respect for the animal head-deaf.

<Waaay ahead of you kit> Podo said as he and Kodo went back into the pouch. <Night!>

Ruh and Sharak echoed their own agreement, and soon Dar was the only one still awake in the campfire he and Tao had set up on the edge of the Mydlands and the Downs, the night soft and quiet. It wasn’t long before Dar also found himself letting out a quiet yawn of his own and, shifting closer to the fire, he found his thoughts turning to the conversation he and the animals had been having before Tao had returned with his staff.

It was true that Dar maybe enjoyed sparring with Tao a bit too much than Dar could dimly remember other humans approving of. He didn’t think he enjoyed it because he liked being a hunter, the way that the Umpatra had claimed she had enjoyed hunting itself, but it was one of the few ways that Dar felt he could somehow… _impress_ Tao. The Eiron knew _so_ _much_ , and while Dar didn’t mind not knowing as much— he liked being able to talk with the animals and Curupira, which he couldn’t do if his mind was too stuffed with other things, and besides knowing too much didn’t really help seem to help much if you got lost in the woods— it did mean that Dar wasn’t quite sure what to do around Tao because a guy like Tao could only take so much walking and talking. At least, that’s what Dar thought, even though Tao had never once complained that he was bored around Dar.

It was kind of like how he had to keep explaining to Tao that they didn’t _need_ to plant a garden or grow their own fruit, because the jungle trees gave the fruit to them, while Tao kept telling Dar of how other tribes had made gardens that floated on marshes or hung up in tree branches to make their lives easier without upsetting nature. Tao didn’t give up, and Dar didn’t give in, and Dar suspected that eventually, eventually, they’d wind up somewhere that actually likes gardens and Tao would stay with them. And he didn’t like the feeling of that at all.

Dar sighed. He remembered what Kodo and Podo had told him about what Tao had said to them about Dar the afternoon after the Beastmaster had beaten the Umpatra,.

 

[<He said that you didn’t want him, because he’s slow and clumsy and you’ve had to save him so many times> Kodo had said.

<What?> Dar had asked, surprised.

<Yeah> Podo said. <Then Tao said that at least he’s taught you new ways of finding food and feel-better plants, and how he’s shown you some things you didn’t know because you don’t know _everything_ , but that you were probably right about him needing to stay and guard us.>

<And then I bit him because he was being a downer, and he threatened to pull our teeth out> Kodo said. <Which, okay, fair, but still, he was being such a _downer_ of a pack-mate. Why do we like him again? >

<Because he’s fun to be with!> Podo had replied.

<Exactly! So clearly he needed to cheer up, which chasing after us definitely did.>

<That’s true, it did? Podo agreed. <We should remember that.>

<Please don’t make Tao chase after you for no good reason> Dar had said absently.

Kodo squeaked. <Excuse you, kit, but keeping your pack-mates happy is definitely a good reason to do anything.>]

 

A crackling noise drew Dar out of his reflections, causing him to get on his feet and look swiftly around the campsite. The brief glance told him it had only been the log on the fire, and not someone or something dangerous running through the grass. Settling back down again, Dar thought more about what Tao had said.

It had bothered Dar that Tao had felt that way, and he’d tried to make him feel more welcome, but Kodo’s question still hung around Dar like a hunter’s trap: Why _did_ Dar let Tao stay? It definitely wasn’t just because Tao was fun to be around. He was, but Dar knew he liked having Tao around for more than that. And yes, it was true that Tao had shown him somethings, enough that Dar was surer now Tao wasn’t a sorcerer the way he’d thought at first because Tao’d explained how sorcery worked, but…

But Dar remembered how he felt when he saw Tao standing shirtless beside him in the chef’s frying pit in the Downs palace prison cell, Tao’s body— brown like the caked dirt of the Downs itself— glinting with sweat from trying to escape before they were actually deep fried. It was a warm feeling, one that had started low in his stomach and rose headily like a snake, making Dar yearn to pull Tao against him to hold for a while. Dar had only felt that way once before, when he had first seen Kyra as a kid, and although it hadn’t been so strong since those days in his youth the feeling was still recognizable.

Dar would’ve dismissed feeling it for Tao in the Downs if he couldn’t remember feeling a softer echo of it the night they had stayed with the Umpatra. Dar had ignored what he had felt sure was her trying to offer to mate with Dar (and _why_ women kept doing that he didn’t know) so that he could stare at Tao’s back in the firelight, feeling slightly dazed at the shades that the twisting fire’s flashes cast onto its smooth plain, traces that highlighted how Tao wasn’t scrawny but slender, almost sleek like an otter.

 It was an echo of warmth that had only grown stronger when Dar had heard Tao tell the Umpatra how good a tracker Dar was.

And yes, it _was_ similar to the feelings Dar would get when he sparred with Tao, feeling the reedy texture of his clothes when he smacked him with his hand instead of the staff to avoid hurting him, or when he had teased Tao about how he needed to stop worrying and have more patience when they had been waiting for Kodo and Podo to bring them something to escape the fryer with, especially when it turned out to be a ladder just like the one Tao had asked for, an attentiveness that had helped Dar feel better about not yelling at Podo for the thin line of clearly just-eaten nuts that the ferret must’ve munched in while their lives were in danger.

It was…an intimate feeling, Dar decided at last. But he wasn’t sure what to _do_ with that intimacy. It’s not like Dar had had much opportunity since his childhood to do much of anything about such intimacy with anyone but Kyra, and even that had grown scarcer as time had gone on.

_I’ll probably just ask Sharak for advice about it in the morning_ , Dar thought to himself. _He knows a lot about things like that._

 

<So?> Dar asked. He had heard Sharak on his return from catching his morning breakfast, and— after waiting for him to eat— had politely explained the matter to the eagle before Tao could wake up from the quick nap he took in order to recover from taking the second watch earlier that morning. <What do you think?>

<That…definitely sounds more affectionate than what you’d feel for your average aerie bird> Sharak replied. <I have only seen such intimacy among humans who have a strong heart-bond, like egg-siblings and their parents, or those who’ve been forced into making a flock due to their nest being destroyed, or mates.>

<But he’s not my egg-sibling, and our nests haven’t been destroyed, and we’ve _definitely_ not mated, even if Kodo seems to think- >

<Ferrets have far simpler mating rituals fledgling. They wouldn’t know about things as complex as human mating rituals> Sharak cried flatly. <Even _I_ only know because I have flown high and far and seen many try their hand at it. >

<But I love Kyra!>

<I never said you didn’t> Sharak told the Beastmaster. <I mean only to say that what you feel is an intimate thing, one I haven’t seen outside of those conditions before. I will think more about it and see what I can tell you.>

<I suppose that’ll have to do, even though you know I hate not knowing>

<So Ruh tells me> Sharak chuckled, a strange sound to have echoing in Dar’s head. <For what it’s worth though…>

<…yes?>

<From what I know of humans, it is not _impossible_ to feel this way for more than one person at one time. That is, Kyra may be the mate your parents chose, one given to you when you were practically a chick— >

< —Hey!>

<— but it’s possible for you to want Tao as a mate, and that is naturally human of you too> Sharak finished.

 

 

Tao slowly woke up. Rubbing his eyes he absentmindedly shuffled his foot, scattering and smothering the remains of the campfire to the ground, before turning to see Dar speaking with Sharak the eagle some distance away. He wasn’t sure what Dar had to ask the eagle, but whatever it was it, Tao was sure it was important. “Are we cleared to go?” he called loudly after a while, the sound causing the Beastmaster to look away from Sharak, who promptly flew back up into the sky. “Cause I want to go back to the Sanctuary while there’s still daylight if we can.”

“Yeah.” Dar called back, sounding slightly distracted to Tao, before saying again more firmly. “Yes, let’s go.”


	4. Chapter 3

Tao collapsed exhaustedly onto the ground that was encircled by the remains of Zuraya’s circus. “Dar,” he called from where he lay.

“Yes Tao?”

“Is it just me, or has this been the longest week ever?”

“It hasn’t been that bad,” Dar teased as he sat down nearby on an overturned crate. “Wasn’t it mostly just walking?”

“No,” Tao complained, slowly rolling over. “No it wasn’t. There was also Ketzwayo driving us all insane, me turning all of eight years old again due to an enchanted stream of forest water, you going on a spontaneous spirit quest, and _then_ the return of Baha in the form of his tricking Zuraya. Out of everything we’ve done in the last month, of everything in the last _five months_ , that- that easily makes this the longest week ever Dar.”

“It’ll make a great story to tell,” Dar said. “Probably need a lot of those strange charcoal marks you like.”

“Yes, it’ll be an excellent ballad to write down,” Tao replied. “But still. Don’t you…feel overwhelmed even slightly?”

Dar paused for a moment, before shrugging. “It’s definitely eventful, but it didn’t hurt that much. Nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t cure.”

“We _could_ make camp here,” Tao told him, gesturing around at the circus. “It’s definitely convenient, and I’m sure Ruh and the others could handle a night away from us.”

“True.”

“Sharak would make sure to tell them if anything happened.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll stay,” Dar agreed, laughing. “Bit early to make camp though. I think I’ll go see if I can find some fruit for us.”

“You do that,” Tao said. “I’ll look through what’s left of the circus, see if there’s anything we can use.”

Dar nodded in acknowledgement, before running off into the forest.

“Not quite what I wanted,” Tao muttered to himself. “But I’ll take it.”

He hadn’t been lying when he had said it’d been a long week, Tao reflected as he searched the circus. It had been, filled with all the upheavals he’d mentioned. It was only that the parts that really wore him out were all the ones that Dar wouldn’t _talk_ about.

“I mean, I just wanted to talk a _little_ bit about it,” Tao said as he moved, opening one bag left by a circus performer to find a wheel of cheese, a lump of bread, and a small canteen of water, the findings causing Tao to sling the bag onto his shoulder for his and Dar’s use latter that day. “It’s not unreasonable. He saw me as a small, incredibly clumsy child that nobody wanted, and I _know_ Dar knows I saw him speaking with the memory of his father before he got murdered. That’s not the kind of things friends ignore about each other. Then again,” Tao added, finding another bag left behind a circus box, this time leaving it on the ground as it only contained some of the juggling pins and balls that the performers would’ve used, “Dar’s still getting used to having human friends like me around again, so he might not know that? I think- I don’t know. I _would_ know if he’d talk to me though!”

 

 

Dar tried to focus on the trees and bushes that surrounded him as they passed, but they weren’t that distracting from the main concern on his mind.

_Tao…_ he thought to himself. _Tao is more right that I’d like him to be._

Dar hadn’t wanted to talk to Tao about the week. It was- there were too many feelings to sort through. How was he supposed to explain to Tao how terrifying it had been to go head-deaf all at once— to see Ruh, who had always cared for Dar since he was a child, abandon and attack him like he was just another human, or to feel all the rage of the animals driven mad by Ketzwayo with no way of actually helping them. It had been shattering, like his entire world was gone all at once, like losing his family and his tribe _again_ , and Tao— all Tao had done, could’ve have done, was to stand there _talking_ , words spilling out like the drone of a beehive. And when Dar thought of what he’d said to him— Tao, who’d been trying to get him to share his feelings— how he’d told Tao that he’d never know anything about Dar’s world, and that they weren’t friends, how even after all that Tao _still_ had tried to take care of him, bandaging him and using his mind (and by Curupira, that _mind_ , sharper than a crow or an elephant’s) to help him, Dar…

Heaving a sigh, Dar bent down towards a bush that had a batch of blackberries growing on it. “I can’t believe I’d turn on him like that,” Dar admitted quietly to himself. “Tao’s my friend, he- he trusted me to save him after he drank from the nymph’s well!”

And that had been a hit to his guts too, to see Tao so small, so shy. “I’m always a boy on the inside,” Tao had said, and that— Dar couldn’t _imagine_ someone who’d seen so much, travelled so far, knew how to take care of so many people, with a quick smile and laugh always on his face, could think he was nothing more than a mere small _cub_ , even if one as adorable as Tao apparently had been _._

_I’d have done anything to help him,_ Dar thought as he picked. _And he-he would too. He did, watching over me as I journeyed through Valhalla. And if anyone could’ve been trusted to see them, my mother, my father, I’d…I’d want it to be him,_ he realized.

 

 

“So, you find much fruit?” Tao asked as he saw Dar approach.

“Mostly berries,” Dar replied, holding up his knapsack, where a small batch of wild berries peaked out from under the lid. “You?”

“I found four bags of food and water, and a couple bags of gauze,” Tao replied, gesturing next to him at the pile. “I even managed to find a flagon of wine. Not sure I’d want to drink it, but it’s there. Also found some dried jerky, but I figured that you wouldn’t want it, it was…questionably old.”

“I trust your judgement,” Dar said, coming to sit next to Tao.

For a moment there was silence between the two men as Tao stoked up a campfire, using some planks of wood Dar assumed came from an abandoned crate. In the evening air, the circus grounds remained cool but slightly eerie, the moonlight bathing down from the clear sky making the abandoned circus tents shimmer ethereally in the night.

“Tao?” he asked after a while.

“Yeah Dar?”

“I wanted to tell you something,” Dar said.

“Oh? Oh!” Tao said as he said down onto the ground. “Well, I’m all ears.”

“I wanted to apologize for what I said earlier.”

Tao looked at Dar. “Ah, for what? I don’t-”

“When Ketzwayo had me under that spell, I, I said you weren’t my friend. And that you talked too much, and asked too many questions-”

“Please, you were cursed and insane. There’s nothing to apologize for.”

“But there is!” Dar insisted. “You don’t just tell someone to go away like that!”

“It was hardly the first time someone told me to get lost or be quiet. I mean, we Eirons may wander about, but how do you think I wound up wandering so far away from my people in the first place?” Tao replied. “I was really annoying as boy—”

“And that’s another thing,” Dar interrupted. “You can’t possibly have been that annoying, you were just a _kid_ , the way…”

“The way you were when the Terrons killed your family,” Tao finished for him. “I-I know. I saw your parents when you were in Valhalla.”

“I-I know,” Dar said.

“You look like a lot like your dad.”

Dar glanced at Tao. “I do?”

 “The way your face is shaped. The set of your eyes and your nose. The way your cheeks move when you smile and laugh. Your height”

“Tao…”

“But you definitely have your mother’s tan and stubbornness.”

“You actually remind me of her sometimes,” Dar admitted. “She was always talking to the other Sula, telling them how to plant gardens and gather herbs. Though I still don’t think we need one or a well at home,” he hurriedly added.

“You wait, I’m going to talk you into that, and you will regret ever having doubted me,” Tao told him softly. “But thank you, for the compliment.”

“You deserve so many of them,” Dar said. “I just. I can’t _believe_ someone, anyone would make you feel like you’re a boy all the time, when you’re so much more. Even when you were a boy you more than that, I mean, you pulled a lion cub’s tail like it was nothing.”

“It was nothing, and sure, I’d like to think I was a big deal when I was little, but, I mean, come on Dar. I’m still not the greatest of all fighters out there—”

“—you will be by the time we’re done—”

“—and I’m not like you or Zuraya, I can’t speak with animals or appear soft. I’m all scruffy.”

“Tao,” Dar said, grabbing throwing an arm around the other man’s shoulder. “You don’t need to do or be either of those things. And I happen to like you just the way you are.”

“Yeah?”

Dar smiled. “Yeah.”

 

 

<And what else did you see?> Kodo said excitedly. The ferret, along with her brother and Ruh, had chosen to remain behind at the Sanctuary to enjoy a small break from the excitement of journeying with Dar when Sharak had flown in, full of news at the Beastmaster and the Eiron’s latest adventure.

<Not much> Sharak admitted. <They talked with each other for a while before falling asleep by the fireside, Tao curled up along Dar like two fledglings. Then I flew here.>

<But-but-what?! What?!> Podo shouted, the ferret’s squeaking echoing around the Sanctuary. <That’s not how you get a mate kit!>

<Maybe they really _do_ just want to be pack-mates > Ruh said soothingly. <It’s not like everyone human has to be for our cub. He could enjoy having some humans around just to talk with.>

<Ruh, I love you like the curmudgeonly grandpa I never had—>

<— _Grandpa_? See here ferret— >

<— but since the Kyra-mate left, the _only_ human we’ve seen our Dar care even _remotely_ about is Tao! > Podo insisted. <He even told Sharak about having those feelings!>

<Intimacy doesn’t always have to come from mates> Sharak said. <I told him that. I’ve told you that. We shouldn’t have to go over this.>

<Oh yeah?> Kodo said. <Can you name one other human Dar’s cared this much for besides Tao and Kyra?>

<I did see him admit to finding the wolf’s woman as attractive> Sharak said thoughtfully. <But she turned him down.>

<And did he fight for her like he does the Kyra-mate?>

<… no, now that you mention it, he didn’t.>

<Therefore it’s clear> Kodo insisted. <They’re made for each other.>

<I think you’re taking this too far> Ruh said.

Kodo and Podo glared at each other for a moment. <Alright, how about this> Kodo offered. <We’ll hold off from doing what we obviously should be doing to get those two together until we hear Dar may want him as a mate. Then all bets are off.>

<If Dar admits it, I will help you myself> Ruh said.

<Very well then, let that be the arrangement> Sharak agreed. <No matchmaking until Dar signals his interest.>

<Isn’t anybody worried about Tao being interested?> Podo offered.

Kodo looked at her brother.

<Oh, right> Podo said. <Stupid question. Never mind.>


	5. Chapter 4

<I still don’t see why he bothers> Kodo said to Podo. <Dar’s a strong mate. And it’s not like he actually needs the exercise with all the adventure and journeying we do.>

<I think it’s because he just doesn’t want Dar to think he can’t rely on him> Podo replied. <Which is pretty kind of him, honestly.>

<Yeah, especially for one who isn’t so big in the fighting thing.>

<What _are_ you two talking about? > said Ruh as he wandered over. They were journeying back from the Ruins of the Atlanteans with Tao and Dar when the two men had decided to break for the afternoon. As the pair settled down to some sparing, Kodo and Podo had settled down to watch while Ruh had decided to check out the neighboring forest.

<Tao and his attempts at wielding the big stick> Podo told the tiger. <Kodo thinks it’s a waste of time considering how long he’s been working on it.>

<Trying to use that staff has made him a quieter hunter at least> Ruh told the ferret. <He’s less clumsy as he walks, and more willing to fight for what he believes in some. These are good things.>

<You’re just saying that because Tao stood up to the Guardian of the Liquid Rock for you> Kodo said dismissively.

Ruh flicked an ear in annoyance. <And just what, little morsel, is so wrong with being proud of a pack member saving you?> Ruh asked, remembering what Tao had said:

 

[“I know the world isn’t fair, and I would never ask for myself,” the Tao cub was saying, “but he returned the Liquid Rock. He has done everything to save the Gate of Life and Death. And this creature, it’s a part of him, and if it dies part of Dar’s life is gone.”

_Chirping even into the face of death_ , Ruh thought tiredly. He could see the great forest where his father had gone when Ruh had been a cub. Its trees were floating in a golden haze, and Ruh wondered if the Tao cub could see it too, if the bargaining sounds made now were the mourning sounds made by humans not like Dar or the long lost pack of Dar’s blood.

“You see,” Tao was saying. “I know him. I know what he’s thinking. I know him well. He lost his mother. And he went back to that loss. He went back to Valhalla to live it again.”

“He’s done even more than that,” the Guardian was saying. In the haze she glowed like the fields of savannah grass that Ruh had wandered through in his cub days, grass that had been smooth and gentle to rest on.

“Then just this once, must death be final?” Tao demanded. “For all the lives taken here and for all that he has done to safeguard the stone, isn’t one life owed?”

And Ruh was too tired to keep listening, but it was only for a moment before he felt it, felt the golden flow of life run through his veins again.

_The chirping one saved my life,_ Ruh thought.]

 

<Were you even grateful?> Kodo was asking. <I bet you didn’t tell him.>

<Of course I did!> Ruh snapped back. <Dar can even confirm it for you.>

<Oh enough already!> Sharak called from above. <We all already know Tao has shown himself to be a good egg, and he’d make a good parent too, if how he treated the strange changeling child is any sign.>

<Yes> Podo agreed. <I liked how well he cared for and handled at shifting kit, giving him a pouch of his own to sleep: it was very well done.>

<I liked the throwing disc and the shiny stone they played with> Kodo said. <They were pretty fun to chase after, even if Tao seemed more interested in the rolling part of the things.>

<Indeed> said Ruh. <I saw you two running about with those toys.>

<Me at least> Kodo said. <Podo just kept rolling over them like pebble slides.>

<Yeah, it was awesome!> Podo squeaked. <And can I help it if I’m a genius.>

<Ah, excuse me? Remind me again which one of us is the rat?>

<You?>

<I believe Tao refers to both of you as that when you irritate him> Ruh interrupted, finally choosing to sit down.

 

 

“They’re talking about us again. I can tell from how they keep glancing our way,” Tao panted, leaning on his staff as he spoke to Dar. The pair had been practicing for a while, and while he was getting better, even an expert could get winded. “Wonder what they’re saying.”

“I try not to eavesdrop,” Dar said as he started to pause, slowly lowering his own staff.

Tao shook his head. “You’re never curious?”

“I think you’re curious enough for the both of us.”

“True,” Tao replied. “But still, they’re practically your _family_. It can’t be that easy to tune them out.

Dar shrugged. “Mostly they talk about places they’ve gone, animals they’ve seen. Where the good nuts are—”

“—I can’t believe we walked all the way to Samaria and _still_ never got those—”

“And the good hunting,” Dar continued. “Sometimes they talk about things they want me to do or trips to take.”

“Sounds pretty normal,” Tao said. “My family spoke that way too.”

“You must miss them a lot.”

Tao shrugged. “As I think I’ve said before, it is common for my people to wander around. My little brother, Kim, has probably gone wandering to learn how to fight. He always was more of a doer than a thinker,” Tao explained, “and as much as I love my parents, I’m content not living with them all the time.”

“And you enjoy getting into trouble with me.”

“Having adventures, yes,” Tao admitted. “It is nice sometimes to have a little spice in life, even if it’s mostly Terron warriors and sorcery.”

Dar chuckled. “I bet your parents wouldn’t like to hear you say that,” he said as he sat down on the ground, Tao soon after him. “Mine wouldn’t have.”

“Yours would’ve been proud of you, of how you take care of everyone,” Tao said simply. “That would’ve been enough.”

“And yours wouldn’t think all your maps and numbering and rolling things—”

“—wheels, Dar, they’re called _wheels_ , I know you know this—”

“—all of those wouldn’t be enough for them?”

“Unfortunately no,” Tao said, scratching the back of his neck out of awkwardness. “Maybe my mother, but my father...”

“Your father?” Dar prompted after a moment.

Tao sighed. “He wanted to me to settle down with a nice Eiron girl, start a family and maybe a school along with it,” Tao explained. “And I don’t have a problem that, really, but just- I don’t-”

“Settling down means no more traveling through the forest,” Dar said, feeling a strange, unsettled twisting in his stomach as he spoke.

“Exactly,” Tao said. “And I want to do that _much_ more, so, here I am.”

“I’m honored then, that you would choose walking with me than finding a mate—”

“Whoa, whoa, _mate_?”

“...isn’t that what you call-?”

“I’d call her my _wife_ ,” Tao said. “Mating means sex, and me, ah, having sex, that’s- that’s separate from that.”

“Wasn’t for my father,” Dar told him.

“He was an immensely lucky man then.”

“Just as you’ll be.”

“I doubt it,” Tao said. “Women don’t really seem to take to me.”

Dar stared at the other man for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

“What?” Tao asked, watching as the Beastmaster almost curled over from the force of laughing so hard. “What’s so funny?”

“Tao,” Dar managed to say after he stopped laughing, “I’ve lost count of the number of women we’ve met who’ve kissed you or hugged you—”

“All of that was out of sheer gratitude for saving their lives, not because they’d want to, you know, _mate_.”

“You could build off of that.”

“ _You_ could maybe,” Tao grumbled. “You’d flash that smile of yours and _charm_ them.”

“Okay,” Dar said, resolving to ask Tao about what smile he meant later, “so maybe I’m not as scrawny as you—”

“—see, that, that _right_ _there_ is why—”

“But you’re clever, and funny, and smart, and mostly coordinated,” Dar said. “That’s gotta count for something.”

“That’s basic for my people,” Tao pointed out. “Hardly as attractive as you.”

Dar grinned, watching Tao blush with embarrassment when he realized what he said. “You find me attractive?”

“Oh… _blazingly_ ,” Tao grumbled, hoping he didn’t sound as embarrassed as he felt. “You’re not only smart, but you’re such a good man that the Guardian of the Liquid Rock called you a holy man even though an _actual demon_ granted you powers after torturing you for three days—”

“—Curupira could’ve done a lot, lot worse than what she did—”

“—and to top it off, you look like that,” Tao said, gesturing at him. “Who wouldn’t find you attractive?”

<Please tell me that all that blushing and roaring you two are doing means one of you is going to mate soon, even if it’s with each other> Ruh called out, the roar echoing across the space. <This is getting embarrassing!>

“See, even Ruh agrees!” Tao said.

Dar laughed. “Actually, Ruh was finding this embarrassing.”

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s obvious who’s more attractive here. Seriously, I can’t believe you have any doubts about that.”

“It’s not that,” Dar admitted. “It’s more that he hopes it’s a sign of our mating season starting soon so one of us will, even if we’re only mating with each other.”

Tao blinked. “I…didn’t know tigers were aware of men being able to do that.”

“Tao, a lot of animals mate like that.”

“Wait…What?”

“Lions, elephants, dolphins, a _lot_ of birds,” Dar listed absently. “It’s not that big a deal.”

“You know,” Tao said after a moment, “I think I’ve only just realized how strange growing into your body must’ve been for you, surrounded by animals with very different habits and opinions than humans.”

Dar shrugged. “Let’s just be thankful that my father had given me the bird and the bee talk before he passed, and that most of the actually growing part had finished by then, or it would’ve been far worse.”

“Still...”

“Have you tried that?” Dar asked suddenly.

“Giving the talk?” Tao asked distractedly. “Not yet. I mean, it was more of a communal lesson thing for us, but—”

“No, mating with a man,” Dar interrupted. “If women flee from you, maybe men wouldn’t.”

“What I-did you- I can’t believe you’d-, wait have-have _you_?”

“No. Not that I have anything against the idea, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of other men in the jungle and for the most part the ones who are try to kill me,” Dar pointed out. “And I was pledged to Kyra at a young age, even a tiger wouldn’t break such a vow.”

“But tigers do take multiple mates, I’m told,” Tao said slowly. “I’d be surprised if Ruh hadn’t tried to encourage you to, ah…”

“Oh he did. Still does, actually.”

“Ah.”

“Mostly I ignore it,” Dar said, noting as he spoke the amount of attention Tao was paying to his words. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind having someone to mate with, but I’m in no rush to seek someone besides Kyra, Ruh’s in no hurry for grandcubs no matter he says, and it’s not like I don’t know how take care of that urge myself.”

“And that is- I mean- oh look, the sun’s setting.” Tao said. “We should get a fire going.”

“…Sounds good to me.” Dar answered, getting up from the ground. “I’ll get firewood if you clear a campsite.”

“Okay!” Tao said as Dar began to run off.

“That was so incredibly awkward,” Tao muttered himself, only to hear chippering in response. Glancing down he saw Kodo and Podo wrapping around his feet, as if trying to give him a hug.

<Don’t worry, Dar will be with you soon> Kodo said.

<Kodo, Tao doesn’t have the Animalspeak, he can’t understand us> Podo said. <Plus we agreed not to intervene until Dar says it’s okay, remember?>

<So? I bet Tao can guess how we feel, and we’re not intervening by making him feel better even if we all know Dar doesn’t like Tao unhappy.>

“Yeah, I know,” Tao was saying to the ferrets. “But at least we got it out in the open? No more pretending I don’t find him handsome, or wondering if he could imagine having sex— er, mating, wow that’s really strange to say— with a man like me. That’s something I guess. Though there had to be a less awkward way of going about it, I mean, really, where did that even _come_ from.”

<Well, if we had any remaining doubts about Tao’s interest, that settles it> Sharak said to Kodo and Podo, the ferrets continuing to move playfully around Tao. <He’s game.>

<Now if only Dar would tell us, right Ruh? Ruh?> Kodo asked. <Hey, did anyone see where Ruh went?>


	6. Chapter 5

Dar wasn’t sure he heard correctly. <Hunting?>

Ruh rolled his eyes from where he rested on the grassy plains before the Beastmaster. He had been meaning to speak with Dar the night before, but things had felt strangely tense in the pack that night for reasons Kodo and Podo had refused to tell him. So instead the tiger had chosen to wait until after Dar had finished with Tao in the morning to mention it to Dar on their way back to camp from their morning run. <Yes, cub, hunting> the tiger said. <That’s what I said.>

Dar glared at Ruh. <For a whole week.>

<It’s a very difficult prey, even for a tiger to catch.>

<But it’s _spring_. No one goes hunting anywhere else it’s for... >

<Yes?>

<Oh. You mean hunting like->

<Like _hunting_ > Ruh said firmly. <Just as I would hope you would be right now. As I’ve hoped for many years.>

<Kyra was kidnapped Ruh. I can’t just go hunting for a new mate like that.>

<That may work for a human cub> Ruh said simply, tail flicking back and forth in annoyance. <But tigers go through many mates in our lives—>

< —only one at a time—> Dar grumbled.

<and it has been half my lifetime since I sought a mate, which is about as long as you have claimed Kyra is your mate without ever joining in the spring hunting games with her> Ruh finished. <It’s time to consider that maybe you should have another, preferably one who would actually be here.>

<And who would you suggest, Tao?>

<There are worse mates you could have than that one.>

Dar stared at Ruh. <What?>

<Oh I admit, he would be a scrawny, noisy mate, but he has clever paws, wisdom of the healing plants, and knows the way through the traps and pits of those who would hunt after you. Not to mention how Tao works hard at keeping you and our pack warm, clean, and fed> Ruh went on <even when he has to deal with those ridiculous ferrets baiting him. And I heard how he treated the shifting cub. These are all signs of a good mate.>

<Kodo and Podo are pack, not children> Dar commented, realizing as he spoke that he wasn’t answering Ruh the right way.

<Kodo and Podo would have had you mate with him and Kyra together _months_ ago. >

<Really?>

<They may be ferrets cub, but even they can tell when there’s a viable mate standing in front of them, unlike someone I know.>

< _Ruh_. >

<In any case, I will be going hunting> the tiger said. <That is why I will not join you to see this Tulsi undertake his journey out of being a cub, though why you go is beyond me.>

<His mother is of the same pack as Kyra’s mother was> Dar answered.

<And they would be pack had they come to raise you as well as her when your parents were killed, but that is a matter for another day. Still, out of respect for you and the occasion, I do have something to give you.>

<What?>

<This> Ruh answered, and rising he walked over and spat onto the ground something it appeared he had been keeping in his mouth for at least a day.

<Is that->

<One of my old teeth, yes> Ruh confirmed, <so that he may be strong. Give it to him my place.>

<I will> Dar promised.

<Good. And now I’m off> Ruh said as the tiger turned and began to run.

<Happy hunting!> Dar called after him.

<And to you, if you wizen up and choose to do it> Ruh replied before he got of range for even Dar to speak to.

Sighing to himself, Dar began to walk back towards where he and Tao had made camp the night before. Ruh had been telling him for years that he should mate, but this...this was the first time it seemed he thought there was an equivalent person to Kyra to be his mate.

And the scary part was, Dar could sort of understand it. Besides his conviction that Tao was definitely someone could mate with— and _that_ was a conversation Dar hadn’t expected to have so early in the morning the day before, even if Dar had found that he liked that Tao thought him attractive— there was also the fact that in the months since they had first met Tao had become very... dear to Dar. Far more than a mere pathfinder and or another member of his pack, and Kyra had told Dar of how she approved of Tao, of how he moved and how he looked, all that time ago:

 

[“He’s scrawny” Dar told her from where they lay against the trunk of one of the Sanctuary trees, Kyra lying across his chest.

“True,” Kyra replied, “but his eyes are wide and feeling, and let me tell you, I have grown to appreciate someone whose feelings I can tell at a glance.”

“Like mine,” Dar teased her.

“I know yours too well. But his...I could see getting to know his better, should he stay with us.”

“Why wouldn’t he? Tao knows he’s welcome to go with us to the mountains.”

Kyra had smiled.” Make sure to tell him that, hmm?”]

 

“Everything okay? Are we still clear to go to Tulsi’s people?” Tao’s voice suddenly called out, prompting Dar to flick his eyes upwards. The other man was standing in front of the fire pit, already putting it out with his boot. His clothes had traces of the ash from where they had caught as they flew up from the stomping, but his face and hands looked as clean as any washed from a water skin (one of the few human inventions Dar had to admit was a handy one.)

“Ruh just wanted to say farewell. He’s going off hunting for a while, and so he won’t be joining us.”

“Hunting? But I thought it’s- wait, he’s- oh _he’s_ \- you know,” Tao finally said. “Considering what we were just talking about, you could have just said he was going to go mating.”

“Tao, he’s off to find a mate.”

“Well then, I guess we know who is getting mated first around here,” Tao replied, finally destroying the fire pit when the last kick of his boot buried it into the dirt. “Good luck to him.”

“I’m sure Ruh would appreciate the well wishes.”

Tao hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose if he’d stayed a little bit longer I could have tried to give him a wreath of catnip to take with him.”

“Catnip? Why would he want to take a cat that bites?”

Tao laughed. “No, it’s a plant, with a strong scent and particularly shaped, green leaves. My people call it catnip because cats will try to nip at it if they find it.”

“And then what happens?”

“Oh it loosens them up,” Tao said as he walked towards Dar. “Makes them all stumble and cuddly, like some humans who’ve had too much to drink.”

“Tao, are you suggesting that Ruh would need to _drug_ his mate?”

“Of course not!”

“It sounds like you are.”

“No, I’m not,” Tao insisted. “I just meant he might appreciate having something that could help...set the mood is all. I mean, can you imagine a cuddly Ruh?”

Dar tried to picture it, and as the laughter began to well in him until it spilled out, Dar began to consider that maybe…maybe the tiger had a point in suggesting Tao as a mate for him. “Thank you for that,” Dar said at last.

“Wait until you see how we’re going to get to Tulsi’s village. Then you’ll really by thanking me.”

“We’re walking, aren’t we?”

“Oh no,” Tao grinned. “No we’re not.”

 

 

Dar was thinking of that day— a day which felt like yesterday despite being really a week before— as he watched the Eiron girl whose name he hadn’t caught kiss Tao. Watching as Tao smiled shyly after, nodding understandingly as she said she was returning to their people ( _and apparently some do end their wandering and go home, in the end, after all,_ Dar thought.)

Dar didn’t like it. He knew it didn’t show on his face, but Dar knew what that twisting in his stomach meant now, now that he had seen it in other faces and knew how he felt about Tao better. The feeling meant displeasure, unfairness. It meant the breaking of packs and the hurting of people. And this time, it seemed, that hurting one would be him.

“Whatever happened to the guy?” Tao was saying.

Dar looked away from where the girl had been walking. “Hmm?”

“You know, the man we came here to help.”

“Oh, him,” Dar said, trying to think of how to explain everything that had had happened in the Burning Forest. “It...all worked out in the end.”

“Good,” Tao said. “In that case, let’s get out of here. I don’t like this place.”

“Me either,” Dar said. Just then he heard an eagle cry.

“Sharak?” Tao asked. “Finally, I’m glad he’s back. You know, he could’ve been very useful out here. Where’s he been?”

“I’m asking right now,” Dar said, and did just that as the pair of them started walking away from the burnt out tree trunks.

<I...had someone to seek out,> the eagle replied.

<What, like a mate?> Dar teased, only to add <I…see> when he didn’t answer.

<You sound surprised, fledgling.>

<I don’t recall you _ever_ seeking a mate before, like the other eagles. >

“What’s he saying?” Tao asked.

“He had to go find someone,” Dar answered absently.

“Who?”

<It is because I only have one mate, and she is...very hard to be with.> Sharak was saying. <When I can see her I do, and those moments are enough for me. Sometimes, they _have_ to be enough for me. >

<I understand.>

<You know, I think that one day you just might at that.>

“A friend of his,” Dar said Tao.

“Ah. I hope he had fun,” Tao said. After a moment he added, “So I’ve been thinking, and I want to try to explain the whole counting thing again, because it just saved my life.”

“Tao, no.”

“Hush and pay attention.”

<You should listen to him Dar> Sharak whispered from where he flew high above the pair as they walked out of the burning forest. <Those scratches of his have meaning.>

<I know> Dar said, tuning Tao out for a moment. <it’s just...he thinks so much.>

<And you so little?>

<No, but sometimes I wish he was little bit more here with me than in his head.>

<That is understandable> Sharak replied. <But that’s very much his body standing and walking next to you, and Tao has a good heart. I don’t think he’d let his mind get in the way of being with you if you should ask it of him.>

Dar twitched a little at the comment, remembering how the man they were trying to help earlier had also mentioned Tao’s good heart.

“Dar, are you even listening to me?”

“No,” Dar admitted just to see Tao splutter for a moment.

Sharak, Ruh, the man. They all seemed to think Dar should…do _something_ , something close to mating but somehow different, with Tao. And Dar could feel something in him that wanted that too.

The Beastmaster only wished he knew what that thing was.

 

_I knew something would go wrong,_ Dar thought to himself as Tao stopped walking in front of him. _It’s only been a week since the Burning Forest after all. Clearly it’s time for trouble._

“The big one looks strong, but the little one,” the woman was saying to the man in the pool with her.

“—the eyes.”

“—beautiful eyes.”

Dar glanced at Tao, who seemed shocked at the sight of other people in the forest. Other people, Dar quickly realized, that bathed naked as their bodies, narrow and lightly cream-colored came out of the pool.

_Well,_ Dar thought. _This is unusual._

“Um, um, well, ah,” Tao was stammering.

“We’re sorry,” Dar started, “We, ah, didn’t mean to—”

“No, that’s right,” Tao agreed hurriedly. “We didn’t, of course we didn’t, it’s just…we’ve never seen anybody else in the forest before. Ever.”

That was a realization that had escaped Dar. Thinking it over though he realized it was true. Together Dar and Tao had encountered the random hunter in their journeys, and there were plenty of people who lived on the plains or the edge of forests, in Zad’s settlement or the Downs, but nobody who’d come to live in the woods.

“Well, I hope we didn’t frighten you,” the woman was saying coyly.

“Tao,” Dar chuckled, hoping the sound would make him seem less worried than he really felt about the unusual occurrence. “I think we should let them get dressed in private.”

Tao blinked at Dar. “Oh, of course,” he said, walking with Dar away so the pair could dress. Tao managed to say silent for just a moment before asking “Did you see the way they were looking at me? She gave me a _look_.”

“A look?” Dar began, before turning behind him. “We didn’t mean to disturb you,” he said a little loudly, as the couple, now dressed and bearing orange hunting arrows alongside dark wooden bows, walked over.

“You have the skill of silence, which is a good thing in this forest,” the woman said, sounding to Dar like she wanted to reassure them for reasons Dar found himself thinking couldn’t be good ones. “I’m Nye, and this is Jem.”

“I’m Tao,” Tao told them, making Dar wish Tao also had the skill of silence. “This is Dar.”

“We were just going to eat,” Jem said, smirking at Tao. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“Well, nothing makes a man more hungry than a naked wom- a swim, a naked swim and a long journey. Naked.”

Dar winced, hoping the others wouldn’t notice anything, only to hear Jem say “All journeys end—”

“—But hunger never ends,” Nye continued, and Dar knew that look. He’d seen Ruh with that look while hunting prey once. It was a predator’s look, and Dar didn’t like it aimed at Tao.

Tao who, for his part, was in the process of inviting them to join him and Dar in a meal, but before Dar could intervene he heard Ruh approaching.

<I don’t like the look of those two> Ruh said.

<I don’t like them either, especially that Jem one> Dar admitted as he silently walked away from the couple, who stood watching as Tao began to gather their supplies, in order to speak with the tiger. <But they haven’t done anything.>

<Yet.>

<You think they will?>

<The tom wants your mate.>

Dar suddenly found himself liking Gem even less. <Tao’s _not_ my mate- >

<Stupid cub> Ruh grumbled as he swiped at him, Dar shuffling to get out of the way of the tiger’s claws.

<How am I stupid? I can’t just attack people who _look_ at Tao. Even if they looked the way Gem does. There’d be whole packs at war with us! >

<The mere fact that even you can acknowledge Tao’s worth _multiple wrathful packs_ should tell you that it’s time to give in and admit that you want him as a mate. >

“What’s wrong” Tao asked, suddenly beside him. Dar guessed he had seen Ruh swipe and had headed towards him, although Gem and Nye both stood a respectful distance away.

“Ruh’s angry with me.”

“Did he say why?”

<Because this stupid cub of mine is about to let two kits mount his mate before he does because he’s apparently _so concerned_ about what his other, long absent, practically lost mate might say that he’s willing to lose a den parent, that’s why. >

Dar glared at Ruh. “He says I should know why,” Dar lied, causing Ruh to actually start cursing under his breath at the Beastmaster, something that almost made Dar do a double-take given how rare an occurrence that was.

Tao rolled his eyes. “Oh great, now the tiger’s being enigmatic.”

“He doesn’t like our new friends,” Dar said simply.

_And truthfully_ , Dar added to himself, _I think he…might just have a point._

 

 

“I guess Ruh was right not to like them,” Tao said the next evening to Dar. They had just set up camp on the edge of the forest when Ruh had left them, sending a grumbling <don’t _ever_ let something like this happen again > at Dar as he ran.

“You think?” Dar asked. His mind was still reeling over the disappearance of the twins— who, they had discovered the night before, had been banished from their village for loving each other in ways that had left Dar feeling deeply concerned as well as relieved that Tao hadn’t been taken by them, especially by Gem, who had kept looking back and forth between him and Tao with a greedy look that.

At first, Dar had found it hilariously funny…right until Gem gave both of them that look while firing poisoned arrows at their heads.

“I mean, how evil do you have to be to be flung up say from all humanity into the sky?”

“My people’s legend was that they didn’t belong here on earth, not that they were evil.”

“Still. I’m glad they’re gone.”

Dar smiled. “Me too,” he admitted. “I didn’t like how Gem looked at you.”

“I still can’t believe flirting with Nye worked to divide them.”

“You shouldn’t be. It _was_ your plan.”

“Well yeah, but it’s not like it could work with you. I mean, somebody would have to kill Kyra before you’d even think about flirting with anyone. Not that I want that to happen to her, of course, but I mean, it’s not like I could flirt you into abandoning her or anything.”

“No. no you really couldn’t,” Dar laughed.


	7. Epilogue

Weeks later Dar found himself remembering that day, and wondered bitterly if some rea power like the Sorceress had been trying to tell him something.

“Are you alright?” Tao asked softly.

“Yeah,” Dar said from where he stood on the edge of the Sanctuary, looking down and across the Plains that surrounded it. “Why?”

“Well, it’s just...been a long day _and_ night,” Tao admitted, coming to a stop some feet behind the Beastmaster. “And now you’re following me—”

“—guiding you—”

“— _walking_ with me to the middle of the world, away from the Sanctuary and its shower—”

“—and the cradle,” Dar blurted out, causing the other man to go quiet.

“I just want to make sure you’re healing,” Tao whispered back, shuffling awkwardly from where he stood. “That’s all. I know I can come off too curious for my own good, but I—”

“I’m okay Tao, really,” Dar answered, hoping he sounded more reassuring than he felt. “I have been completely okay since we left this morning.”

“Right,” Tao said. “Right.”

Dar felt a small smile grow on his face, and for a brief moment his mind went back to that morning:

 

[“Dar, here,” Tao had said. “I saved it from the fire.”

Dar had looked down and seen the amulet Kyra had given him when they were betrothed so many years ago. The amulet he had kept and worn like a promise every day they had been apart, only to throw it the day before onto her- her funeral pyre.

Two days ago she had been his Kyra, living, laughing, and loving. Kyra, warm and firm against his chest as they swam in the Sanctuary pool, whispering about the children they’d have, how those children wouldn’t grow up like them, with members of a dead tribe circling over their heads like a curse.

Two days ago Kyra hadn’t had an axe thrown into her back by a rogue Terron as she hung off a cliff in his arms, his face the last thing she’d ever see as her eyes closed and she died, taking her- _their_ future with them.

Even Dar knew you couldn’t marry someone who was dead.

“The only way to keep someone is to remember them in your memories. That’s how they stay with you always,” Tao had been saying, but all Dar could see was that the heat of the pyre had turned the amulets colors from brown and white to black and gold, the colors of Tao’s skin and his eyes and hair.

And Dar remembered how he’d spent the night before with Tao, talking with someone from dusk to dawn for the first time in his life. How Tao had told him his mother had always said that miracles were born in the early dawn and Tao’s best memories were from that time of day. And it suddenly struck him how much Dar didn’t want to just _remember_ Tao like he was going to have to remember the slight traces of Kyra, from a stone and the barest traces of touch they had shared, Dar wanted Tao to be there and be his and— and he knew, he _knew_ that this was Kyra’s way of telling him it was okay, it was _okay_ to choose another mate.]

 

“But really, are you?” Tao said.

Dar rolled his eyes. “Tao, seriously?” Dar asked as he began to walk down the hill, Tao following behind him.

“Look, I just, in the past _day_ you’ve almost sold your soul to the Apparition of the Burning Forest to kill a Terron man when you’ve never actually killed a man before and have basically sworn not to as part of your oath as Beastmaster, though I’ve never actually heard you repeat that part of your oath aloud—”

“—Tao—”

“—and Kyra’s death was so harsh and so _sudden_ , and you were waiting to be with her for so long, and now you’re...you’re just riding off into the morning with me. How is that anywhere remotely enough for you? I mean, I didn’t even witness her death happening, I just _heard_ about her death from you since you physically held her while she _died in your arms_. And I keep going over in my mind the memories of how I gave her a garden—”

“—which I _still_ never wanted, you know, so thanks for _that_ by the way—”

“—and telling her to make you a shirt even though she whispered back there were benefits to you going shirtless—”

“—so _that’s_ what she told you, I was wondering about that—”

“—and I think if it had been me seeing- _seen_ Kyra dying, I’d be…”

“What?” Dar asked as he heard the other man’s footsteps come to a stop.

Tao sighed. “I-I don’t know.”

“Tao, answer me this,” Dar said softly.

Dar didn’t even have to be looking at Tao to know the Eiron was rolling his eyes. “Oh Ancient One, now _he’s_ asking _me_ questions.”

Dar chuckled. “What can I say, you’re a terrible influence on me,” Dar replied.

“Excuse me, I am a great influence.”

“But what I wanted to ask you is this,” Dar continued. “If you saw me die today, right now—”

“—oh please don’t jinx us, I—”

 what would you feel?”

“…I’d feel crushed.” Tao admitted. “Like part of me had been destroyed. I’d probably badger Sharak into helping me bury you, and then go break down somewhere. I mean, you’re the best person I’ve ever known, I’ve spent more time around you than I have anyone else except for my own tribe, and—”

“Did you know Ruh and Kodo and Podo and Sharak would all care for you?” Dar interrupted, the memory of their long, rambling conversation from last night still fresh in his mind. “Do you know that you have a home with us, and you’ll never have to give it up to go travelling?”

“Dar...”

“You wouldn’t have had to leave, even if Kyra _hadn’t_ died,” Dar said, knowing he wouldn’t have to explain to Tao how it was so easy for Dar to say the truth of the matter.  “I wanted you there with us. She w...would’ve wanted you there. Every single animal in this pack wants you to remain here with us.”

“Why? I mean, I know why Kodo and Podo and the others probably would’ve wanted me, but Kyra?”

“Because she knew that I— what Kodo and Podo and Ruh and even Sharak— what _everyone_ has known for so long now, what I...what I needed to figure out,” Dar admitted. “What putting this amulet you returned to me, putting it back around my neck, gave me permission to accept and to say to you.”

“What?” Tao asked.

“That I love you,” Dar said, pulling Tao against him, feeling him tremble as he did. “So  much. _So_ much. That I want you to be mine so bad that it hurts sometimes. That I don’t want you to go away from me, e _ver,_ with anyone that I don’t know and already approve of.”

“You can’t possibly mean that,” Tao whispered back, the sound of it reverberating off of Dar’s chest. “You’re just using me to replace Kyra, that’s- that’s all this is. It’ll pass, I promise, I—”

“ _No._ No,” Dar said, shaking his head. “Kyra, she-she was my first mate, the one I was meant for before I even knew what having a mate would mean. And she was patient with me, and gentle, and sweet, and she can’t be replaced. Even if I could replace her I wouldn’t, and I’d definitely never use you like that anyway.”

“Then what am I?”

 “You’re Tao. My scrawny, smart, caring, chatty Tao,” Dar said, nuzzling him, “and I want you, and I won’t let you go. You’ll have to figure out how to spin a staff fast enough to beat me senseless first.”

“But…”

“And if you even think about saying Kyra would disapprove of- of this, of me,” Dar said firmly, “let me remind you that if it hadn’t been for her, for you meeting her and helping me try to find her, we’d never have met in the first place.”

“That’s—”

“And it _was_ her pyre that turned her amulet into your colors.”

“It did? It…wow, it _did_.” Tao stammered, his eyes flickering up from where his face had been buried onto Dar’s chest to look more clearly at it. “But that’s probably easily cleanable, I just need some water and something to polish it with.”

“Tao,” Dar laughed. “She turned its colors.”

“And your point is?”

“My point is that I think she’d be more than okay with this.”

“With what?”

“This,” Dar grinned, and leaning down as if it was second-nature, the Beastmaster kissed the Eiron.

 

 

[Meanwhile, hidden in a small, leathery knapsack that hung off of Dar’s shoulder, two ferrets giggled and high-fived each other with exuberance, while an eagle called—almost cooed— from far above to a tiger whose contented rumble was the only sound that he made as he mysteriously begun to slink quietly away into the grasses of the Plains.

Dar noticed none of that. He only noticed Tao, and that was- _Tao_ was more than enough.]

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [ART for More Than Words by Noxelementalist](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14241048) by [Tarlan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan)




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